George McGovern

FILE - In this July 14, 1972 file photo, Sen. George S. McGovern makes his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention in Miami Beach. At left is his running mate, Sen. Thomas F. Eagleton of Missouri, and at right, convention chairman Lawrence F. O'Brien. A family spokesman says, McGovern, the Democrat who lost to President Richard Nixon in 1972 in a historic landslide, has died at the age of 90. According to the spokesman, McGovern died Sunday, Oct. 21, 2012 at a hospice in Sioux Falls, surrounded by family and friends. (Associated Press)

George McGovern, a man to honor and remember for his contribution to American politics, has died. He was a politician who advocated justice for poor Americans and supported civil rights for all of us.

McGovern characterized himself saying: “I always thought of myself as a good old South Dakota boy who grew up here on the prairie (South Dakota)…My dad was a Methodist minister. I went off to war. I have been married to the same woman forever. I’m what a normal, healthy, ideal American should be like.”

May his legacy serve as a reminder of commitment to one’s ideals, nation and family.

(S-R archives photo: July 14, 1972, Sen. George S. McGovern makes his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention in Miami Beach.)